Posted on 07/24/2004 9:25:11 AM PDT by lizol
Poles Say 'Fahrenheit 9/11' Is Propaganda
Fri Jul 23, 3:44 PM ET
By VANESSA GERA, Associated Press Writer
WARSAW, Poland - "Fahrenheit 9/11" opened Friday in Poland — a U.S. ally in Iraq (news - web sites) — with some critics comparing director Michael Moore's style to totalitarian propaganda.
But politicians who opposed Poland's decision to send troops to Iraq urged the public to see the film. Moore's movie portrays President Bush (news - web sites) as inept and the war in Iraq as an illegitimate campaign waged to further business interests.
A critic for Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland's largest daily newspaper, condemned the movie as a "foul pamphlet" too biased to be considered a documentary and said it reminded him of methods used by Nazi propaganda filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.
"In criticizing Moore, I have to admit that he has certain abilities — Leni Riefenstahl had them too," reviewer Jacek Szczerba said.
The Rzeczpospolita newspaper wrote that, "Michael Moore will not convince Poles with his film."
"People are very sensitive to aggressive propaganda, especially when it pretends to be an objective documentary or a work of art," the paper wrote.
But Moore's film was also changing minds.
"The film contained some propaganda, but there was also a lot of truth in it," Elzbieta Karwinska, 58, said after viewing the film.
The left-leaning Trybuna newspaper lamented the fact that Poland's political leaders have not been more critical of U.S. policy.
"Even criticism of the United States has to be imported from the United States," the paper said.
Poland sent troops to help in the U.S.-led war to oust Saddam Hussein (news - web sites). It now leads a multinational division of nearly 6,200 soldiers in south-central Iraq, including 2,400 of its own.
Though surveys show most Poles oppose involvement in Iraq, there is no major protest movement.
Already a box office hit in the United States, "Fahrenheit 9/11" will also be shown in Romania, Hungary and other former communist countries this summer.
Zygmunt Wrzodak, an opposition lawmaker who has called the Iraq war a crime, said Moore's film was hardly objective.
"Still, all Poles should see it," he said recently.
In neighboring Czech Republic, the film was shown to mixed reviews at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival this month.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus spoke out against Moore's work, saying he is troubled by any film that urges viewers to totally adore or condemn a leader.
"Those of us who have lived through the film propaganda of the Communist era are a bit overly sensitive to the tricks of the director," Klaus told the Lidove Noviny daily last week.
Well it's nice to know that there's at least one place in the world where they're not taken in by all the cheap anti-American lies of MM.
Not content to disgrace himself in his homeland alone, Moore will now go international. It used to be that bullies and foul mouthed malcontents were limited to the neighborhoods where they grew up. Not since Clinton and Moore has so little besmirched so much.
Sadly, Moore's work will do harm to U.S. interests around the world. The sad part is that he will not recieve his just rewards for this propagandist attack against the better half of his betrayed nation.
So, we actually do have a traitor in action. An American sending propaganda to our allies during a time of war seeking to weaken the coalitions objectives. Sounds like the definition of a traitor to me.
There should be a new name for Moore - Terrorist Rose, Traitor Rose, anti-American Rose?
Why is it we go after countries that support and harbor terrorists but allow our own countrymen to aid and abet the terrorists worldwide without penalty?
We are even allowing them to profit on the backs and lives of our soldiers. An utter shame. Moore should have to forfeit his citizenship and leave the country he hates so much.
What do you mean "will go international"? Lumpy Riefenstahl has been going up and down Europe for months now already badmouthing our country. What a disgrace!
Good old Poles.......they take a lot of jokes, but they're smarter than the dumbest people in the world, (MM Talking about those who believe his film)
Ah, some Poles recognize clever partisan propoganda when they see it, due to their history. Some don't still.
Man's capacity to read between the lines of propoganda has forever been undependable. I believe it was Leonardo DaVinci who said there are three types of man:
Those who see
Those who see when they are shown
Those who will never see
I've seen him on TV here in Pland couple of days ago. In my opinion he tried to pretend G. Bushe's speech saying somethin like: "I know, that Poland and the Poles are the biggest and staunchiest ally of America. And as friends should always tell friends whole truth, so I'm grateful to the Polish people for telling us the truth about Iraq".
And I wonder, where the hell he found such a "truth" in Poland (in his meaning of this word)?
That is true. I was refering to this formal production, which will receive a massive viewing, whereas his former comments were more localized.
Lizol, we have the same thoughts about Moore. 'Where does he come up with this "stuff"?'
We believe in free speech, so we tollerate the man. Please know that he is widely recognized as a loud mouthed malcontent. Even many of those in our country who want to see Bush loose the election, recognize Moore for the unfortunate propagandist that he is.
Thanks for the comments.
errr.. but FAR in lies IS propaganda -- I saw Bowling for C and have no intention of seeing F911 -- why? Because MM has a tendency of cutting up pieces of film and splicing together sentencese said at different points in time along with timages from other points in time -- it's near libel.
By the way, many people on this forum have a great deal of respect for the citizens of Poland. Thanks very much for sending troops to help in Iraq. We really appreciate it.
The film is political pornography.
that reminds me of a russian immigrant who bought a filling station near where i lived. i got to know him, and one day he blurted out:
"the media is controlled in the united states"!
obviously a former soviet union denizen would notice this.
And we're proud to be by Your side.
Michael Moore, traitor. The Demopukes will grind this country into the dust just so they can regain power.
"Poles Say 'Fahrenheit 9/11' Is Propaganda"
Ya think?
Gotta love them Poles :)
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